


Petrichor

by AsgardianAngels



Series: Angband Modern AU [3]
Category: The Silmarillion and other histories of Middle-Earth - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, M/M, fluff and a flashback
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-19
Updated: 2018-04-19
Packaged: 2019-04-24 22:53:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,313
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14365419
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AsgardianAngels/pseuds/AsgardianAngels
Summary: Mairon and Melkor reflect back on their first kiss.





	Petrichor

**Author's Note:**

  * For [poe_tay_toe](https://archiveofourown.org/users/poe_tay_toe/gifts), [StarsOverTheEast](https://archiveofourown.org/users/StarsOverTheEast/gifts), [hindue](https://archiveofourown.org/users/hindue/gifts).



> Set when they are 30, and have their newborn son, Tom (*coughs* Bombadil). 
> 
> Aule was misguided back then. He wanted Mairon to be happy but was convinced that to achieve that, he had to keep Mairon in a cage, forcing him on a path he didn't want. Once Aule finally accepted that his son found happiness the way he wanted it, things changed for the better between them.
> 
> Also, in this au Mairon's mother died when he was young. Sorry Yavanna, you're not in this story whoops
> 
> P.S. Melkor is pan.

“Do you remember the first time we kissed?”

Melkor turned his head to meet his husband’s gaze. They lay in bed, listening to the soft pattering of rain outside their window during the night. It was warm for October, and he had opted for fewer layers, which was met with approval from his bedfellow. “The official first time, or the first first time?”

He felt Mairon smile against his bare skin. “The first first time.”

Bringing his arm around to rest on the curve of Mairon’s waist, he sighed contentedly. “‘Course I remember.”

Mairon snuggled closer to him, up between his arm and chest, that familiar space he fit into so perfectly. “Can you believe how long it’s been? Ten whole years. Now look at us.”

Melkor lifted his head just enough to peer down at himself, the steady motion of his breathing causing Mairon to rise and fall gently, silhouettes of raindrops dotting them both. No, he still couldn’t believe it. The gold of his wedding band caught the moonlight and glinted with every exhale he made.

“We’re married now. We have a _son_.”  

A soft smile graced Melkor’s lips. “Life is wild.”

“Sure is.”

A silence settled over them as they each contemplated the path their lives had taken. Outside, the moon was shrouded once again by the clouds, and the sweet scent of wet earth drifted in through a crack in the window.

“God, I was mad.” Mairon sat up and pushed himself back against the headboard, dragging the sheets with him. “Even looking back on it…” he laughed, running a hand through his tousled hair. “It was _awful_.” He glanced at Melkor, sensing the incredulous look on his face. “You know what I mean. The kiss was fantastic. The situation was awful.”

Melkor’s skeptical expression turned into an embarrassed grin. “Yeah, throwing yourself at me in front of your old man was pretty insane, even for you.”

They were both smiling at the memory now.

_It was the day, a decade ago, when Mairon left home to go on the road with the band – then Utumno, in its humble infancy – to his father’s great ire. It seemed Melkor Bauglir, the local delinquent, was stealing away Aulë’s son from the white picket fence future he so wanted Mairon to have. Whether or not Mairon himself wanted it, well, he was never asked._

“You hadn’t even offered me a spot in the band yet,” Mairon recollected. “I was a groupie,” he groaned.

“Hey,” Melkor chided. “You were a roadie. There’s a difference. One of them has dignity.”

_They had just finished loading equipment into the van when a car pulled up behind them. Out stepped Aulë, determined to stop his son from making such a reckless decision. But today, Mairon would not back down. He felt it, a tug in his gut telling him that he was exactly where he was supposed to be. It was his family, or Melkor, someone who he barely knew. And yet, in that short time since they’d met, Mairon felt more at home with him than he did in his own house. He had to convince his father to let him go._

“I’d never seen him so angry,” Mairon said. “The only other time was when I moved out, and that…” he paused, staring down at his hands in his lap. “That was on its own level.”

Melkor remembered that well too. He was there.

“It was just too much for him. And me then going and claiming you and I were running off together, that just really did it.” He twirled a strand of his hair in his fingers. “I had to _prove it_.”

_Aulë refused to believe what he was hearing. His eldest son was trying to throw away everything, because he was dewy-eyed over this punk bastard? There was absolutely no way. See, his son, his Mairon, was going to have a promising career, a wife and two kids, financial stability – the ingredients for happiness. He could not fathom that Mairon didn’t fit into this mold, never truly believe it wasn’t something that could be persuaded with enough persistence. After all, Mairon’s happiness is what his mother would have wanted, and this path would not lead to it, Aulë was sure. He just wanted to protect him. Mairon didn’t know what was best for himself._

Melkor chuckled. “And then you jumped me.”

“Yes, and then I snogged you, because I panicked and honestly my dad wouldn’t have accepted anything less. It sure shut him up.”

“It shut me up too,” he said. “The look on your dad’s face… I nearly pissed myself, I swear to God. I thought I was a dead man.”

“Yeah well, if he had been the shotgun-toting type, you would have gotten buckshot right to the balls, so lucky you.”

Melkor cringed. “I don’t even want to th-”

“Blown clean off.”

Melkor pushed him halfway off the bed, and he yelped. Clinging to the sheets precariously, Mairon returned the gesture with a punch to the shoulder. “You liked it though. The kiss.”

Melkor smirked. “I let you stay, didn’t I?”

“Excuse you,” Mairon scoffed. “That’s called favoritism, and it’s looked down upon in the workplace.”

“It worked out pretty well for you, so I wouldn’t be complaining.” He ran his hand down Mairon’s arm gently, and interlaced their fingers. “Anyways, I’d made you a promise, that you could come with us to get away from your dad. That just… made it more complicated.”

“More interesting, you mean.”

“More complicated. You were giving me mixed messages for weeks.”

_In the stunned silence, all eyes were on Mairon. Melkor stared at him shocked, becoming more aware by the second of the blush creeping into his cheeks. Was that really just an act? He was afraid to admit it, but he hoped Mairon had enjoyed it. Because he had. Before he could get a word in, Mairon hurried them into the van, and they gunned it, leaving Aulë to watch his son slip from his grasp. He wouldn’t see Mairon again for nearly two months, when he finally returned to gather his things, his final choice made._

“To think, that one split-second decision, it changed my life.” Mairon pursed his lips pensively.

“For the better, I hope,” Melkor said, giving his hand a squeeze.

Mairon looked at him wryly. “Of course, you idiot.” He leaned over and pecked Melkor on the lips, taking him by surprise. But the shock of such sudden heart-fluttering bliss wore off just a little bit faster now than the first time, and he caught Mairon in his arms and began tickling him. A swift kick to the shin and he was forced to release his grip. They both fell back into the sheets, cracking up.

Melkor shook his head, grinning. “Imagine going back in time and telling a 20-year old me that I will never taste that sweet cherry pie.”

Mairon snorted. It was an ungodly sound. Melkor loved it. “You got something way better, and you know it.”

Melkor took Mairon’s face into his hands and kissed him deeply, both of them still trying to control their laughter. It wasn’t the most attractive of moments, but it was a perfect one nonetheless.

“Yeah, I did,” he whispered.

As they sunk back down beneath the covers, ready and willing to show each other how much love they had to give, a shrill wail pierced the silence. They both sighed, and Mairon gazed up at his husband hopefully. With a soft kiss on the cheek, Melkor clambered off of him and out of bed, passing the flashing red light of the baby monitor on the nightstand on his way to the door. There were many ways to show the love he had to give, and how truly grateful he was to have someone to give it to.  


End file.
